1 Samuel 2–3; 8

The theme of this lesson has to do with honoring God more than man. The examples in the lesson’s questions have to do with the men in the story (Eli, Samuel, their sons, and the Elders of Israel), but the first verses of chapter 2 are about Hannah. She stands out in the Old Testament not only because we know her name, and important details about her life, but also because we actually have some of her words. Also, it is notable that she is the only one who has a correct relationship with God: she does honor God more than man. None of the men in the chapter can claim the same thing.

Until I sat down to write this essay, I did not realize that Hannah was a plural wife. (How have I missed that, all these years?) This information is in chapter 1, which recounts the story of Hannah and the birth of her son Samuel. The name of the other wife was Penninah, and Penninah made Hannah’s life miserable, over a period lasting several years, because Penninah had children and Hannah did not.

We learn in 1 Samuel 3:1 that “the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.” Despite that, the way Hannah talks about God is deeply personal and active. When Hannah prays at the beginning of 1 Samuel 2, verses 3, 7, and 9 are especially beautiful. In verse 3, she says: “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” In verse 7, she says, “The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” In verse 9, she continues: “He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”

Although you could read these verses strictly in terms of God’s knowledge and power, I think it is also clear that Hannah is talking about wrongs being righted. Hannah, after all, is a woman who had suffered for many years because she was childless and because Penninah chose to be her enemy by acting unkindly to her. Hannah knew all about injustice and unkindness, and what she is celebrating here is a God who was willing to intervene on her behalf. I think she is talking about people who have power and wealth being cast down because they have been unjust and unkind. They have gone after their own interests and have not had compassion on other people. When Hannah talks about poor people being raised up, she is talking about people who have been unfairly placed in difficult or impossible situations.

One of the other things I love in this chapter is the tender picture we are given of Hannah after she dedicated her son Samuel to God, which essentially meant that she allowed Eli to raise him instead of herself. In verse 19 we read, “Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.” Although Hannah went on to have three more sons and two daughters (verse 21), she clearly continued to love and care for Samuel and to mother him at a distance. And at first it seems to turn out well. In verse 26, w read: “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.”

In contrast to Hannah’s son Samuel, we have the sons of Eli. The contrast is ironic. Faithful Hannah does not raise her own son: Eli does; and yet Eli did not apparently do a good job raising his own sons. In verse 12, we read, “Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the Lord.” The verses then go on to explain that the sons of Eli were helping themselves to the meat that had been intended for sacrifice to God. In verses 15 through 17, we read: “Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth; then he would answer him, Nay; but thou shalt give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord….” As Dr. Seuss said in the immortal The Cat in the Hat, “But that is not all, oh no. That is not all….” In verse 22 we read, “Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

This prompts a parental scolding from Eli to his sons. In verses 23 through 25, he says: “Why do ye such things? for I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. And he said unto them, Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father….”

The thing that is most interesting to me about the parental scolding is the fact that the Lord clearly considered it to be insufficient. A “man of God” (verse 27) says the following to Eli in verses 29 and 30: “Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Continuing in verses 34 and 35, we read: “And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.”

Chapter 3 contains the famous story of Samuel’s first direct contact with God. The Lord calls Samuel three times. The first two times, Samuel thinks Eli is calling him, so he goes to him. In verse 8, it says that, “Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.” Eli directs how Samuel to respond to the Lord, and when the Lord calls a fourth time, Samuel follows Eli’s direction. When the Lord speaks to Samuel, the conversation is about Eli. In verses 11 through 14, he tells Samuel about what will happen to Eli “because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (verse 13).

Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord told him. However, I find Eli’s reaction to be interesting. When Eli instructs Samuel to tell him everything, Samuel obeys. Eli then says in verse 18, “It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.” In verses 19 and 20, we read, “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.”

Eli’s response is humbling. Here is a man who has been given stern consequences, yet whose answer to that rebuke echoes Job 1:21: “…the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In the final chapter of the lesson, chapter 8, Samuel is an old man and has “made his sons judges over Israel” (1 Samuel 8:1). But it turns out that his sons, like Eli’s, are dishonorable men. We read in verse 3 that “his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.” It is interesting to me that he and Eli have the same problem with their children.

The elders of Israel decide that the way to solve the problem is to replace their judges with a king. I think this is an interesting reverse parallel to The Book of Mormon, where the judges follow the kings instead of the kings following the judges. Samuel doesn’t like the idea (verse 6) but he does pray about it. In verses 7 through 9, we read: “And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.” Samuel does, but in verse 19, the people said, “Nay, but we will have a king over us….”

This lesson raises some difficult questions for us to consider. Here is the first pair of questions: Do we consider the Lord to be an active force in our life, as Hannah clearly did, or are we more like the rest of Israel at that time, without much contact with God? How close to the spirit do we really live? And here is the second: Eli scolded his sons, but he did not restrain them. If we choose not to be actively involved in improving our communities, are we accountable for that?

 

 

Sunday School Notebook - June 2006 - Susan Morgan